Boxing board’s regional chair resigns over fight

Malawi Professional Boxing Control Board (MPBCB) Southern Region chairperson Colonel Alfred Kuyenda has resigned  over misunderstandings about Salimu Chazama’s controversial fight against Laston Kayira.

The board last month ordered Chazama, who had just fought a Tanzanian boxer Allan Kamote a week earlier, not to face Kayira.

It argued that World Boxing Council (WBC) rules which Malawi follows, stipulate that a boxer should rest for at least three weeks before going into another fight.

But Chazama went ahead to face Kayira whom he knocked out in the fourth round in Lilongwe late last month.

Confirming the resignation on Tuesday, Kuyenda, who represented the board during the fight, accused MPBCB leadership of ignoring the views of other officials.

“I have resigned because the board’s top leaders do not want to listen to some of us, so the best way is to resign,” he said.

Chazama last week told The Nation that Kuyenda approved the fight.

And Kuyenda, who has held his position for one year, confirmed that he authorised the fight because he feared a revolt from boxing enthusiasts who had paid to watch the fight.

“I know rules stipulate that a boxer needs a three-week’s rest. But sometimes we need to use logic. The fight was publicised and to call it off anyhow could have created tension,” he said. “But it seems the board doesn’t want to appreciate my reasoning. This is why I have left.”

MPBCB president Lonzoe Zimba confirmed on Wednesday Kuyenda’s resignation.

“We have a WhatsApp group for the board’s officials and he sent his resignation there. It is his right to do so,” he said.

On Kuyenda’s accusations, Zimba said the board only follows rules in order to protect the boxers.

“In the case of Salimu’s fight which has forced him to resign, we were only enforcing the rules,” he said.

The board is scheduled to meet on 26 June this year to hear the Salimu case. He faces a ban of three months if found guilty. n